1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of non-dairy beverages, produced from natural foodstuff. More specifically, the invention provides a process for combining nut butter with water and other essential ingredients, in predetermined amounts, resulting in a stable, pleasant tasting beverage.
2. Description of Prior Art
A. Nut-Based Beverages
Efforts to utilize nuts as the primary ingredient of a beverage, have not previously met with great success. One prior art process called for mixing ground nuts, in the form of a powder, with water, milk, or other dairy products to achieve a beverage consistency. Artificial ingredients were also added to such beverages to overcome taste and odor objections. But other problems still existed. For example, these nut powder beverages exhibited poor dispersement during mixing with other fluids, and poor suspension characteristics during storage. In addition, prior art nut beverages have demonstrated instability when subjected to heat, and oil separation when left in storage over an extended period of time. Lastly, functional compatibility problems have also been noted, when these powder-based beverages are mixed or used in conjunction with other foods or beverages, such as cereal or hot coffee.
B. Vegetable, Fruit, and Grain-Based Beverages
The prior art also teaches the production of vegetable, fruit, or grain-based non-dairy beverages. More particularly, such beverages have been made from soy beans, oats, rice, and a variety of fruit, including bananas, mangoes, and strawberries. Even though non-dairy, many of these beverages must be refrigerated to prevent spoilage. They also exhibit limited storage life even when refrigerated. Consumers have objected to an unpleasant "beany" or grainy taste, which characterizes many of these beverages.
C. Nut Butter, as A Food Product, A Food Spread, and A Food and Beverage Ingredient
Nut butters, processed from a wide variety of nuts including peanuts, almonds, Macadamia nuts, and hazelnuts, have been produced for many years. The first step in producing nut butters is to roast the nuts to a moisture content typically less than 4%. Nuts such as almonds or hazelnuts may be left in a natural state with skin, or blanched with the skin removed, prior to roasting. After the roasting process is completed, the roasted nuts are ground to the desired consistency. Through grinding, nutseed oil is released and the nut meat is reduced to a small particle size. The combination of the oil and the particles forms a paste, also known as nut butter.
Traditionally, nut butters have been used as food ingredients, food spreads, and filling for food products. However, one effort to produce a beverage from almond nut paste is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,374, issued to Matsunobu, et al. The almond nut paste in the '374 Patent is produced from unskinned, dry-roasted or oil-roasted almond nuts, ground to a fine consistency. Two surfactants are added to the nut paste to disperse fat released from the ground nuts into milk. One surfactant is a lipophilic, and the other is a hydrophilic, respectively, to attract fat and water. To make almond milk, the '374 Patent teaches that water, almond paste, sugar, and commercially marketed milk should be mixed together and emulsified. This process results in an almond-based beverage which includes both a dairy product and a chemical surfactant (polyoxyethyene sorbitan), as several of its ingredients.
However, the need exists for a natural, non-dairy nut-based beverage, which need not be refrigerated and which exhibits superior shelf life and stability.
The need also exists for a nut-based beverage which has a pleasant taste, and can be combined with other natural flavors to provide a wide variety of flavored beverages.
The need further exists for a nut-based beverage produced from nut butters, in which the nut butters are combined with water and predetermined amounts of essential non-dairy natural ingredients, for emulsifying, dispersing, and stabilizing the beverage.
The need also exists for a process and nut-based beverage product resulting from use of the process, in which the beverage product can be readily manufactured both in a directly consumable form, and in a concentrated industrial form.
These and other objects of the invention will be taught by the disclosure to follow.